Big physics, small doses: the use of AMS and PET in human microdosing of development drugs
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery February 28, 2003 Graham Lappin, R. Colin Garner 257 citations
Early clinical drug development has seen little change in 20 years despite a 40% failure rate due to poor drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics. A new method called microdosing allows investigational drugs to be tested in humans earlier, enabling smarter candidate selection. Microdosing relies on two ultrasensitive techniques: positron emission tomography (PET) for pharmacodynamic information and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for pharmacokinetic information. This approach permits safer human studies and reduces the use of animals in preclinical toxicology.